NASA Taking Submissions to Send Message Into Interstellar Space

Slide into aliens' DMs.

By
Alanah Pearce

Until 11:59pm (PT) today, NASA is accepting submissions for a social media message to send to the Voyager spacecraft.

Voyager 1 is the single most distant human-made object ever, and the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space, and Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to fly by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. In essence, whoever wins the #MessageToVoyager contest will have their message beamed 13 billion miles into space.

The campaign is in celebration of Voyager mission’s 40 years exploring space, and, according to NASA, is “inspired by the messages of goodwill carried on Voyager’s Golden Record” which is a 12-inch phonograph record that contains sounds and images intended to portray diversity of culture on Earth.

In order to enter to have your message sent to Voyager, post a “short, uplifting” comment to Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google+ or Tumblr with the hashtag #MessageToVoyager, and make sure your account is public. JPL, NASA and the Voyager team will then select their top picks and the public will get to vote for the winning message from these top picks.

The message will be beamed into interstellar space on September 5th.

Alanah Pearce is a writer/producer at IGN, and her one life goal is to go to the ISS, which is probably never going to happen. You can make fun of her unrealistic goals on Twitter @Charalanahzard.